Notre Dame student dies after falling off sports arena roof

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The University of Notre Dame says a 21-year-old student from Colorado who was set to graduate Sunday died after falling from the roof of the school’s sports arena.

William Meckling of Centennial, Colorado, was among a group of students who climbed onto the Joyce Center’s roof early Saturday. The school says the roof was wet and Meckling fell shortly before 3:45 a.m.

Two students told a campus security officer, who found Meckling unresponsive on the building’s east side near its Gate 7.

Meckling was pronounced dead at a hospital.

School officials say Meckling was a mechanical engineering major and a member of Notre Dame’s fencing team.

Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins said “it is a profound sadness … to lose someone so young and brimming with promise.”